Actually there are 3 techniques covering all the media, which can be recorded to pc in the world.
First of all, here's a good how-to about VCR recording (needs much HD space):

1 Connect the composite cables to the VCR's AV OUT or Playback jacks, using the yellow plug for the video jack, and the white and red plugs for left and right audio.

2 Insert the plugs on the other end of the composite cables into the AV INPUT jacks on the converter box, then connect a USB cord to the USB OUT to PC jack on the converter.
3 Open the video-recording software by double-clicking the name of the program.

4 Insert a prerecorded videotape into the VCR and press "Play" if the tape does not begin playing automatically.

5 Click the "Record" button on the recording software. The button should have a red circle in the center.

6 Click "Stop" on the computer screen when finished recording, then click the "File" tab at the top of the screen.

7 Choose "Save As" and type a name for the downloaded videotape recording. Choose a folder such as "My Videos" for saving the recording.
8 Click "OK" to store the file on the computer's hard drive.

The second simple case is downloading of videos from web sites like youtube, vimeo, ets.
1. Go to
http://www.riptiger.com
, download and install a software.

2. Visit any URL you like which contains online video using any browser like Chrome, Firefox or Opera

3. The videos will start being recorded automatically, all you have to do is just manage those vids: order, convert, transfer to devices you want.

The last variant will help you in all other situations, that's a screen recording software, which just records everything from your screen.